The Book in Two Sentences
- There's no such thing as "original art". You steal from many sources and make it something better.
- The people, objects, and inspirations you surround yourself with make up who you are.
Impressions
Extremely easy to read yet essential philosophies on your outlook towards your "creative" work.
Who Should Read It?
Anyone who considers art/creativity to be a part of their lives.
How I Discovered the Book
One of Lana Blakely's life-changing books.
How the Book Changed Me
Evolved my creative process. Next time I look at an artist, I'll try to understand their perspectives and purpose for making that art, instead of simply imitating it. "That's what you really want - to internalise their way of looking at the world."
Logbook, swipe file. Writing fan letters: Hugh MacLeod says, "The best way to get approval is to not need it."
Top 5 Quotes
- Chew on one thinker - study everything there is to know about that thinker. Find three people that thinker loved and find out everything about them. Repeat. Seeing yourself as part of a creative lineage will help you feel less alone as you start making your own stuff.
- The more open you are about sharing your passions, the closer people will feel to your work. Artists aren't magicians. There's no penalty for revealing your secrets.
- Cartoonist Gary Panter says, "If you have one person you're influenced by, everyone will say you're the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you're so original!"
- The classroom is a wonderful, if artificial, place: Your professor gets paid to pay attention to your ideas, and your classmates are paying to pay attention to your ideas. Never again in your life will you have such a captive audience. Writer Steven Pressfield says, "It's not that people are mean or cruel, they're just busy."
- French writer André Gide said, "Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again."
- Harold Ramis, actor and director of Ghostbusters, says "Find the most talented person in the room, and if it's not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. Try to be helpful."
"Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself."
- Yohji Yamamoto
You are who you meet. You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, "We are shaped and fashioned by what we love."
Ask anybody doing truly creative work, and they'll tell you the truth: They don't know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up to do their thing. Every day.